With the Bass Strait crossing fast approaching, I thought a family holiday to Tassie would be a good chance to familiarise myself with the cooler waters down south and get in a few training sessions.

I have been out on Frederick Henry Bay (just east of Hobart) for several short trips and really enjoyed the variety of coastline, scenery and islands compared to the relatively boring beaches of Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay.

The cliffs of Cape Deslacs were very interesting and there were several narrow caves that could potentially be explored if you had calm seas and a plastic kayak.

One of my trips was a run from Roches Beach to Sloping Island and back. As I got within a couple of km of the island I had the outgoing tide fighting the incoming SW swell and 20 knots of wind and chop coming from a 3rd direction. It made for pretty exciting paddling and I was relieved to find this sheltered little beach.

I wasn’t looking forward to the return leg as I would have to go back through the same rough patch as before plus fight the wind most of the way home. Fortunately the wind died down a bit but it was a slow 13km.

So I have seen most of Frederick Henry Bay now and last night I met a Tassie local who provided some hot tips on great paddling locations. So stay tuned for some more pics…..

Special thanks to the Spirit of Tasmania for not charging me extra $ to take my overhanging kayak on the ferry and for Mrs Bretto for picking me up from strange places – normally later than the agreed time!